Strong winds and debris flying through the air. These are common sites among the Texas plains. For a young boy from California, they are not so common and can be what dreams are made of. This was true for Christian, a 9-year old living with cancer.

Christian’s wish was to “be a tornado!” As part of that request, he and his family came to Lubbock from southern California to get up close and personal with severe weather. They spent several days in west Texas, and were able to go storm chasing with Al Hardin and Derrick Ginter from KAMC. One chase took them several hundred miles nearly to Dallas, and although they didn’t see a tornado, they were able to see and hear numerous severe storms that were rumbling across the west and north Texas producing hail and high winds. Christian was able to spend time with meteorologist, Ron Roberts and learn some tricks of the trade.

Christian and his famly didn’t spend all of their time storm chasing. A visit to the National Weather Service in Lubbock enabled them to see the NWS video entitled “Surviving the Storm.” The family toured the NWS Office and received some hands on training with the AWIPS weather workstations. They also saw a real weather balloon. Another highlight of the visit was listening in on an actual severe weather conference call with the Storm Prediction Center.

They also made a visit to the Science Spectrum where they checked out the exhibits and watched a dinosuar movie. Another evening, they went to enjoy steaks at Cagle’s and were treated to a horse and buggy ride by John Cagle. A stop at Texas Tech Wind Science and Engineering Center allowed Christian to learn about debris impact and the damage tornados can cause.

Christian’s wish was more than the family ever expected it to be. His wish is a memory they will cherish forever.